Women's Basketball Closes Out Regular Season at St. John's

Queens, N.Y. -- The Creighton women's basketball squad will close out the regular season on Sunday, Feb. 28 as the Bluejays face St.John's at 3:01 pm. The game will be broadcast on FS2 (Fox Sports 2).

2/28: - 3:01 pm: Creighton (13-16, 7-10 BIG EAST) at St. John's (20-8, 11-6 BIG EAST)

TV - FS2: http://foxsportsgo.com
Rich Ackerman (Play-by-Play) and David Gass (Color Analyst)

Stats (Free): http://www.redstormsports.com/gametracker/launch/gt_wbaskbl.html?event=1463298&school=stjo&sport=wbaskbl&camefrom=&startschool=&

Series History: St. John's leads 6-3
St. John's won last meeting 66-55 on December 29, 2015.

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Bird Seeds

Sunday marks the final game of the regular season and there is still plenty to play for. The Red Storm are fighting for the second seed in the BIG EAST Tournament with Seton Hall and Villanova as well as a potential at-large bid for the NCAA Tournament. The Bluejays are locked into a play-in game at the BIG EAST Tournament, but can move up to the No. 7 seed with a win Sunday as well as a Georgetown win.
Creighton would love nothing more than to play spoiler for the Red Storm. St. John's has been a thorn in the Bluejays side since the two teams met in the NCAA Tournament in 2013. St. John's has beated Creighton in each of the Bluejays first two trips to the BIG EAST Tournament.

Series History with St. John's:
Red Storm lead, 6-3
This series was intense before the Bluejays joined the BIG EAST as the Red Storm eliminated Creighton from the NCAA Tournament on a coast-to-coast layup in the closing seconds in 2012.

Since then the Red Storm have continued to be the Bluejays nemesis, knocking Creighton out of the BIG EAST Tournament in each of the last two seasons.

The series, however, has been far from one sided. Creighton handed St. John's losses in each of the last two seasons, including a
75-50 win in New York last February.

St. John's leads 6-3
Home: 1-2   Away: 2-1 Neutral: 0-3
Date   Result   Score/Site
11/28/97   W   72-66 at St. John's
3/18/12   L   67-69 in Norman, Okla. !
1/8/14   L   48-57 at St. John's
2/23/14   W   65-62 in Omaha
3/10/14   L   63-68 (2OT) in Rosemont, Ill. @
1/11/15   L   38-61 in Omaha
2/6/15   W   81-73 at St. John's
3/8/15   L   54-57 in Rosemont, Ill. @
12/29/15   L   55-66 in Omaha
! = NCAA Tournament
@ = BIG EAST Tournament

Scouting St. John's (20-8, 11-6 BIG EAST)
No team in the BIG EAST relies more heavily on two players than the Red Storm. Danaejah Grant (20.2 ppg) and Aliyyah Handford (16.4 ppg) account for over half of the St. John's points.

Grant has been tremendous over the past seven games, topping 20 points in each contest.

Handford, meanwhile, became the Red Storm's all-time leading scorer in the win over Providence on Friday.

While Handford and Grant handle the bulk of the offense, St. John's is equally known for its defensive intensity. The Red Storm hold their opponents to 61.0 ppg, led by a swarming amount of pressure (8.0 steals per game).

Keys to the Game w/St. John's

Ball Security: Against the Red Storm, it is critical to prevent easy buckets. St. John's turns steals into layups, thus the Bluejays must protect the rock.
Slow Down Grant: Both Grant and Handford are too talented to shut down, but when Grant is limited to 15 or less the Red Storm are 2-3.
Execute on Offense: The Bluejays have struggled to execute on the offensive end consistently this season. The Bluejays cannot afford extended minutes without a bucket.

Double Switch
The Bluejays used a double switch to perfection against Seton Hall on Feb. 26 as post player Bailey Norby went to perimeter to knock down a career-high three trifectas. Meanwhile point guard Jade Owens cleaned up on the glass with a team-high six rebounds.

Dialing Up From Distance
Speaking of Norby, she entered Friday's contest with two career trey, both against Villanova this season (one in each meeting with the Wildcats). Norby opened the second half against the Pirates with a three-ball and she went on to close the game, 3-for-3 from long range.

Not the Size of the Bird in the Fight
Standing just 5-6, Jade Owens is the smallest player on the Bluejay roster. That hasn't mattered one bit to Owens as the Illinois native has led Creighton in rebounding a team-high 11 times this season. Owens has collected a team-high 140 boards this season.

Women's Basketball Closes Out Regular Season at St. John's

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Bailey Norby

Jade Owens

Women's Basketball Closes Out Regular Season at St. John's

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Bailey Norby

Jade Owens

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